“Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro” – Famous anime thief heads to theaters to steal hearts of fans

The hit anime classic “Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro” will be shown on the silver screen as a special two-night event on September 14th and 19th celebrating the 50th year anniversary of Lupin’s manga debut. The 1979 film is the first directorial appearance of legendary Hayao Miyazaki before co-founding the iconic Studio Ghibli.

Lupin the Third, originally created by artist Monkey Punch (Kazuhiko Kato), racked up quite the reputation over the years as an international burglar. His latest heist turned into an investigation when the cash he got were all fake. Lupin’s examination led him and his partner Jigen to the small country Cagliostro, but their trip to the place turned bumpy when they got caught between two speeding vehicles. Seeing a young woman trying to flee from her pursuers, Lupin jumped into action and saved her in the nick of time from an untimely end. Sadly the thief couldn’t protect her and the men in the other car captured her. However, the woman left her ring with Lupin, an item that jogged his memory and would reveal history of both him and the land.

The film is like Indiana Jones with nicer suits. Lupin however is sillier than the archeologist and also is a professional criminal. Miyazaki’s setting has a balance between reality and fantasy by showing clear roots with the European architecture but also playing with myths and technology. While the story takes place later in Lupin’s career, new viewers wouldn’t need to go back to Monkey Punch’s manga or anime series to understand the leading man or his associates. Audience from any generation will enjoy the amount of action and comedy packed in this movie.

For those that are a bit peculiar about watching international films, each day will be a different version. September 14th will be those that prefer English dub and the 19th will show English subtitles with the original Japanese voices. Some modern anime fans may complain about the quality of the dubbing, but the production team of “Castle of Cagliostro” chose a good cast that felt natural with the characters. To find out where the closest theater for you, visit Fathom Event’s site. Distributor ELEVEN ARTS is currently holding a twitter contest until September 15th promoting the event and giving away a year premium plus subscription from Crunchyroll. Visit here to see the tweet and also check out their site to see what other anime films they will bring to the States.